Hobson family sues S.J. sheriff over Linden dig

The family of JoAnn Hobson has filed a lawsuit against the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department for the method used to excavate remains of victims of the so-called Speed Freak Killers.

The lawsuit, filed by Hobson’s mother and other family members, accuses the sheriff’s department of using a backhoe for large-scale digging at the Linden mass gravesite where serial killers Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine buried their victims.

The remains of Hobson, Kimberly Billy, an unidentified woman and an unborn fetus were found last year in an abandoned well at the dig site.

A report from a lab in Chico said the remains given to Hobson’s mother, Joan Shelley, were mingled with Billy’s remains.

The lawsuit says that Hobson's family believes the sheriff’s department gave Billy’s family Hobson's remains for cremation.

“The remains of JoAnn Hobson have been irreparably destroyed and desecrated by the actions of Defendants in co-mingling them with the remains of other victims,” according to the lawsuit.

The family is asking for damages due to negligence and emotional distress.

Hobson went missing in 1985, when she was 16 years old.

A retired FBI agent, who is familiar with the case, read the lawsuit and told KCRA 3 on Tuesday he believes Sheriff Steve Moore violated public trust with his actions.

"It was bad on every imaginable level," said Jeffrey Rinek, the retired FBI agent who believes the lawsuit is appropriate. "It was bad for the sanctity of the crime scene -- recovering the victims' remains.

"It was bad for lead information, to try to and determine which victim was which."

KCRA 3 also contacted the Sheriff's Office about the lawsuit.

A representative said the department had not received the suit and couldn't comment on it.

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